Question Number: 35844

Mechanics 12/22/2024

Crebs Crem of Zagreb, Croatia asks...

Hello and merry Christmas,

I have a question regarding the drop ball restart as a result of an reversed decision by VAR.

Last year, there was a match between Chelsea and Brighton. Near the end of the match, the cross by Brighton player hit the face of a Chelsea defender in the Chelsea penalty box. The ball went out of the bounds over the goal line and after that, the referee incorrectly awarded a penalty. Then, the referee watched the incident, reversed the penalty but instead of restarting with a corner kick, he dropped the ball to the Chelsea goalkeeper. After the match, several commentators had told that drop ball was the correct restart.

So, can we say that the moment the referee stopped the play is the moment when he/she decided to stop the play, instead of the moment when the whistle has been blown?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Crebs
Thanks for the question.

As the referee stopped play to award a penalty kick that was the decision which the VAR process reversed so the only possible outcome was a drópped ball at that location.

The downside of the early call is that if the referee had made no call the restart would have been a corner kick. It is for this reason that referees incorrectly delay on making a penalty call and use VAR as a crutch which the advice tries to avoid.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Crebs
a very merry Christmas to you as well.
the referee awarded a PK!
That is the stoppage!
The ball went into touch -after- that event.
The fact it was deemed to NOT be a PK after review.
The changed outcome of a decision will not change the -reasoning for the stoppage- which was the supposed foul!
The fact it should have been a corner kick -IF- only the referee had not erred in awarding the PK because now the LOTG demands that as an inadvertent stoppage, it is a DB.
Given that this stoppage occurs within a PA (penalty area) the LOTG are specific the restart is a DB to the keeper.
The whistle is sounded to stop play but the reason for the whistle is the intended restart for that decision.
When the decision is an oops unnecessary whistle , as it was here, the DB is the go to fix.
A foul CANNOT be awarded if the ball is ALREADY out of play. If there is an incident, that occurs after the ball is deemed to be in touch, it could only be misconduct.
Cheers